Senate bill seeks life imprisonment vs. officials conniving with agri smugglers

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill seeking to penalize government officials and employees found conspiring with agricultural smugglers with life imprisonment.

Senate Bill 2205 seeks to amend Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act by adding the following as acts considered as large-scale agricultural smuggling and economic sabotage:

• allowing or approving in one’s capacity as public employee or officer the importation into the Philippines without the required import permit from the regulatory agencies, whether or not there is pecuniary interest or material benefit or advantage on the part of the public employee or officer
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• approving or granting any license, export declaration, clearance or permit, knowing that the same is manifestly unlawful, inequitable or irregular, whether or not there is pecuniary interest or material benefit or advantage on the part of the public employee or officer.

With these acts considered as violations of the law, any person who violates the measure will face life imprisonment and a fine of twice the fair value of the smuggled agricultural product, including the taxes, duties, and other charges avoided plus interest at the legal rate.

The prescription period or the time within which charges can be filed is 20 years.

In explaining the intent of the bill, Hontiveros said there has been no prosecution of individuals, groups, or corporations since the passage of RA 10845 in 2016.

“There… has been no prosecution of government officials for facilitating and abetting acts of agricultural smuggling that amount to large-scale economic sabotage. As a result, smuggling activities continue with impunity,” the senator said in her explanatory note.

She mentioned as an example the sugar fiasco where documented accounts showed that thousands of metric tons of sugar were allowed into the country without a sugar order.

“Agricultural smuggling is costing the government billions of pesos a year in lost revenues. The smuggling of regulated agricultural commodities has also led to high prices for consumers, the violation of our competition laws, and most importantly, the further decline of our domestic agricultural sector,” Hontiveros said.

“It is time to hold to account government officials who allow smuggling to persist unfettered,” she added.—AOL, GMA Integrated News